


A Practical Lesson in Spearcraft

by Jimmy_Rustled_Bird



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen, Lancer Questline spoilers, Other, reflections, you are sane but a little bit of a battle nut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22406179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jimmy_Rustled_Bird/pseuds/Jimmy_Rustled_Bird
Summary: You wonder if a Dangerous Proposition is truly dangerous after all.Foulques & Reader.
Relationships: Foulques & Reader (Final Fantasy XIV)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	A Practical Lesson in Spearcraft

You were summoned back to the Lancer's Guild. You went as soon as you were able; you had been practicing whenever you could, even during the many, many jobs you took. You figured now would be a good time to go back. You wanted to show your progress, and if Ywain was willing you would like to learn another technique as well.

You admit, you weren't expecting Ywain to send you to rescue your guildmate. Then again, you also weren't expecting your guildmate to have been foolish enough to challenge someone so much more powerful than they were. You were pretty sure that for however much of a jerk Foulques initially seemed like, he knew what he was doing.

And who knows, maybe it wouldn't be a total loss. After all, Foulques did train you last time, and he was even keeping an eye on you. Was this helpful? Sure. Was it mildly creepy? You've had worse.

You find them in East Shroud, the guildmate on his bottom and looking positively miserable. The younger recruit apologizes as Foulques banters with you. Whatever you say to him, the truth is that no, you had not forgotten him. It was difficult to when his first hello to you was a spear aimed at your face and his first lesson to you moved your objective to somewhere so weirdly specific. He holds your guildmate hostage to 'force' you through your trial. Really, you would have done so anyway, even without that obviously contrived condition. You play along, impatient to learn and unwilling to waste time arguing.

He sets you to your task. Enrage and kill a treant by using a serum poured onto its roots. Which you do, as well as a large number of diseased treants that followed after the apparently very healthy one you just took out. While you wouldn't say it was easy, it wasn't terribly difficult either. The treants were much slower than say, a coeurl, so it wasn't too hard to dodge the whipping branches and strike. You could see both him and your guildmate observing you. You wondered if he was also instructing your guildmate. Watching others was, after all, one way to learn.

You come back. He releases your guildmate and leads you into a small clearing. Your next task is to cull a large pack of vicious wolves- again not difficult on its own. However, after you best the first wave, Foulques uses a temporary blinding potion on you. You would have been annoyed. You probably  _ should _ have been annoyed. After all, wasn't a blindfold just as good? 

Those feelings soon melted away as you focused on the fight. It was certainly a bit more difficult now- you had to rely more on your hearing and touch to sense where they were and what they were about to do. You also noticed something- the number of wolves you saw before going blind didn't match with the amount you were hearing in your immediate vicinity. This was perplexing. Surely those beasts would try to take down the weaker fighter first, right? And that would be you, as you were both less steady and also temporarily hampered. But you found the number of enemies to be just within your capability to deal with. 

You hear the clash of steel on wolf and the faint jingling of rivets. Ah, so that was why! Foulques wasn't merely spectating- seemed he was serious when he said he would be nearby to supervise and advise you. Somehow, that put you more at ease. You weren't on your own- someone more experienced was there to gauge your progress and meter your enemies accordingly. You were pretty sure he probably wouldn't just leave you there if you weren't up to snuff (he still might, of course, but it seemed he put in a fair bit of time and effort for you.)

Even when the alpha wolf appeared, you didn't feel too bothered. Foulques warned you of its most dangerous attack- good to know what it did, even though you could have done without the extra pressure. It didn't take you long to learn the feel of its steps, the changes in its rhythm and the warnings in its growls. You danced, euphoric in battle even as you experimented with your spear. You were aware that even now, he was holding back the extra wolves, allowing you to focus on your opponent.

He congratulated you as your vision returned. Told you that you had accomplished both the tempering of your courage and keeping the safety of Lifemend Stump. You weren't entirely certain of the veracity of his second statement but he probably knew what he was talking about. He lived here after all. The wolf was slain and you were flushed with excitement. It was...fun, if you dared to say so, and you felt a small measure of pride. You felt accomplished and behind all that, something else. You spied your guildmate hiding in the bushes as you gave your due thanks for the lesson. You escort your guildmate back to the hall, demonstrating some techniques when they asked you about what you did. Teaching as you were taught, albeit slower and more gently.

It was only later after you learned the technique Ywain taught you (you already had half of it down, just by trial and error) and quit the premises that you realized what the unnamed feeling was. It brought more questions than answers.

You hadn't truly been in danger at all that entire lesson. Your foes were dangerous, that was true, but you were safe under the watchful eyes of your clearly-powerful, self-imposed mentor. You would not have been so willing to try new tactics, and dare you say,  _ play _ , otherwise.

...on the other hand, you thanked your lucky stars he'd taken such a shine to you. With your current level of skill, there was no way you could have taken him on and won. Now it left you wondering what Ywain was thinking- had he sent you into the proverbial wolves' den assuming you could best him? Or did he know Foulques was less likely to do serious harm to you?

Perhaps it would be a good idea to make an ally of this other teacher of yours. Or at least try to find out more about him. It was truly strange that someone so...interestingly congruent to the core of the Guild's teachings was considered rogue among their number. 

That could be a thought for another day though. For now, you were eager to see how your new skills would measure up in combat against other foes.

**Author's Note:**

> For Serella, the soft prompt 'you'll be safe with me'.


End file.
